Augmented Reality
by CJ2018
Summary: With Tails' transition into adulthood come some new... peculiar feelings. Specifically towards that of a certain holographic lynx. Romantically naive, this inventive young fox attempts to rationalize that which cannot be rationalized.


"It is late, Mr. Prower." A stoic, feminine voice stated.

"Wha?!-" Tails blurted out, snapping up from his dozed-off position and knocking a few loose papers to the floor in the process. "Oh, Nicole! Sorry about that." The fox apologized.

"You have been working for over twelve hours. Rotor left over an hour ago. Why don't you call it a night, Tails?" Nicole suggested, the digitized face of an adult female lynx appearing on the monitor in front of Tails.

The yellow fox began his recovery from his short-lived nap, stretching with a tired yawn and grasping a half-empty yellow mug with his signature twin-tailed logo on the front. After taking a gulp of lukewarm coffee, he continued his work, furiously tapping on the keyboard in front of him. "No-can-do, Nicole. I promised you I wouldn't rest until I was one hundred percent certain that none of Eggman's virus remained in your systems. That wasn't hyperbole, and I don't go back on my word!"

"I really do appreciate the effort, Tails. However, I must point out to you the error in your decision." Nicole said with an appreciative, yet concerned smile. With a flash accompanied by a mechanical beep, her portrait was replaced with the workstation screen that occupied the terminal previously. Tails looked behind him to see Nicole's three-dimensional holographic form materialize, placing a hand on his shoulder. The keyboard clicks ceased for a moment, and a small shiver crawled up his spine before he refocused and continued typing as his A.I. friend continued.

"By choosing to work this long on one task with little to no rest, you are subjecting your mind and body to unneeded stress. Though it may be true that you're working nonstop, your work productivity, by my calculations, is nearly cut in half by the time you reach the eleven hour mark, not to mention the thirteen that you are approaching."

"I know…" conceded Tails.

"Furthermore, this kind of strain is unhealthy for you in the long run. Think about how this lack of rest will affect your productivity tomorrow, the next day, the day after that." Nicole continued matter-of-factly, removing her hand from Tails' shoulder.

"You're right…" Tails once again admitted. "It's just, what if Eggman's program is still dangerous? What if something happens overnight, and an extra hour or two of work on my part could have prevented it?"

"The chance of such a thing occurring is minimal." Nicole responded. "While, yes, it is true that Eggman's Black Tempest virus is one of the most dangerous programs we've seen to-date, save Phage. With how fragmented it has become, thanks to you, Rotor, and the rest of the city staff's hard work, it is likely no longer a serious threat."

Tails paused for a moment, mulling over facts and probabilities before making up his mind and pushing out his rolling chair from the crowded computer terminal. "Ok, Nicole, you win," he said in defeat.

"Thank you, Tails." Nicole said, a hint of relief in her voice. Tails followed by standing up and pushing his chair back in. "And do not worry about cleaning up your workspace. Remember, I don't require rest, I will organize this area and continue work on purging the remnants of the virus while you recuperate."

"Thanks for looking out for me, Nicole," the two-tailed fox said gratefully, turning to face her. "Heh, I'd probably work myself to death if it weren't for y... "

Tails' sentence trailed off when his eyes fell on her holographic form. Even in the dimly-lit computer room, the same habit that Tails had been stuck in for the past few months asserted itself once again. Any sentences he'd been developing were all sucked out of him, and his eyes began their common skirmish with his rational mind. Ultimately, he couldn't help but give them what they wanted, allowing them to begin surveying the lynx's slender legs, tracing the modest curves that her signature all-purple dress outlined. Continuing in his trance-like state, Tails' gaze reached Nicole's smiling face and emerald eyes. The very lifelike pair of projections reflected some of the light from the computer monitors, giving them a unique sparkle.

"Tails, is everything alright?" Nicole's warm expression morphed into one of worry. "Have I done something to upset you?"

"What?" Tails exclaimed, being driven out of his own little world. "Oh! No, not at all, sorry!" He apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and looking away in shame.

"Are you feeling ok? The coffee may be dehydrating you, or it may be lack of sleep." Nicole proposed. "Both of these are evidenced to be causing factors of decreased productivity and attention."

"Yeah, must be those…" Tails lied as he looked away, trying to scrub the image of Nicole's holographic form from his mind. "I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning. Thanks again, Nicole!"

"I'll see you tomorrow. Make sure to drink plenty of water, and don't forget, Mr. Prower. Tomorrow is our scheduled digital chess session, I expect you to take a break from your work to be there." Nicole reminded.

"Oh yeah, right. I'll be there." Tails vowed as he grabbed his bag from its resting position beside his chair. He purposefully avoided her cheerful gaze as he made his leave.

"See you tomorrow."

Nicole merely gave a slight nod and grunt of acknowledgement before turning away from the exiting vulpine and commencing cleanup of his cluttered workspace. Soon after, the dimmed lights in the computer room clicked off completely.

"Ugh…" The mature fox groaned in tired annoyance as the door of the New Mobotropolis Science Center slid closed behind him with a mechanical hiss. "Why is a computer program doing this to me? Is something wrong with me?" He fired off at himself.

The full moon shone overhead as Tails trekked back to his house, his contemplation continuing on in silence. As much as he wanted to deny it, the feelings were too recognizable for him to ignore. Ever since his eighteenth birthday a few months prior, something just clicked. Suddenly, his everyday interactions with the holographic keeper of the city had gradually become more… awkward…

When Tails turned sixteen, he'd begun regular gaming sessions with Nicole to test his growing mental limits against the sentient logic machine. In the two years that followed, Tails found himself relating to and enjoying the company of the artificial lynx more and more. Their sessions grew more frequent, and he spent a considerable amount of time with Nicole outside of just a simple game of chess or Stellaris. The two geniuses would solve problems, craft theories, or just talk about life outside for hours at a time. Nicole was especially enthusiastic about Tails' maturation to adulthood, and the feelings and changes associated with it. However, recent developments of said feelings in the maturing fox had thrown a wrench in his plans…

As these sessions with Nicole in the digital world continued, Tails found himself feeling a... different sort of attraction to the A.I. One beyond simple fascination or companionship. Every time he glanced at the lynx during their matches some sort of strategical error always followed. Furthermore, during their collaborations, the usually-focused vulpine would more often find himself becoming distracted by the shape of the digital being's body, the color of her eyes, the sound of her voice...

Tails shook his head aggressively, realizing he was trailing off into his kind of trance-like state once more. With a sigh, he realized that he'd been so busy in his own mind that he'd taken a wrong turn a block back. He swiveled back around to correct his error. As he pressed on through the empty streetlight-and-moon-lit streets, the thoughts continued...

Feelings of weightlessness, loss of focus, the way rationality seemed to go on vacation when he laid eyes on her. All these feelings swirling around inside had led to one all-too-familiar conclusion. One the vulpine didn't want to admit, but knew to be true.

Tails had feelings for Nicole.

Hoping that this was just a temporary part of his maturation, Tails had forced the thoughts into the back of his mind. However, these feelings proved to be far more than fleeting.

Nearly four months had passed since his initial acceptance, and since, the feelings he had towards the A.I. had only grown stronger, threatening to break free every time he saw, or even thought of Nicole.

Seconds later, Tails was shaken out of his reminiscing as a modest yellow house came into view among the other similar houses among the street. Entering the home stretch, the vulpine took the remaining time to look at his special 'gizmoed-up' - as Amy called it - watch. "Twelve thirty, great..." He mused sarcastically. At the very least, Tails knew that he'd soon be collapsed in his bed, sleeping off his exhausting and drawn out day.

Striding up to his customized mailbox, - Cream had made him a mailbox with a pair of fox ears and two tails for his birthday - Tails checked for any contents he may have received while out and about. A small stack of envelopes left the box before the vulpine closed it and headed inside.

"Ugh!" Tails moaned in exhaustion, throwing his backpack down on a black wooden bench lining the wall aside his door. After setting his mail down on the kitchen counter, Tails decided to heed Nicole's advice, heading over to his self-made fridge and grabbing a bottle of water from it. The desert-like conditions the coffee had left in his mouth were washed away with a swig of the cool liquid. With his water in-hand, the vulpine began sluggishly unbuttoning his shirt as he headed to the bathroom. "So ready for this day to be over…" He mumbled, shutting the bathroom door behind him.

Following the removal of his shirt, Tails' gaze trailed over to the mirror. His reflection stared back, reminding him of how well time had treated him. For the now-going-on seven years he'd lived in New Mobotropolis, the young fox had matured into a man. His comparatively stubby figure had grown to one of respectable height, and his twin tails along with it. Their increased length was accompanied by the stronger, firmer look they now had thanks to the dozen years of flying under his belt. Of course, being more of a mental than physical athlete, his form was nothing to write home about. He wasn't as chiseled or toned as Knuckles or Sonic respectively, but to call the vulpine out of shape by any means would be a falsity. The time spent fighting Eggman's machines and flying to and fro made sure of that. Instead, the grown fox sported a flat stomach and a subtle hint of muscle tone above his midsection.

Finished with his self-inspection, The shower fell under Tails' gaze. "Eh, I'll save that for tomorrow mor-" His voice stopped in its tracks as his eyes opened as wide as a deer's eyes in headlights. Hesitantly, Tails leaned his head over to sniff his underarms. "Egh! Nevermind, shower tonight it is!"

Moments later, warm shower water shot out from three sleek, inward-pointing openings at the top of the shower, blanketing the two-tailed fox's fur in comfort. Tails closed his eyes and allowed the stresses of the day to be washed away. Alone in the fogged room with nothing but the patter of the shower to accompany him, Tails' mind once again attempted to pull him towards Nicole. He contemplated shaking his head again, or trying to think of something else, but honestly? He was done fighting for today. He let his mind have its way. The box containing his feelings for Nicole cracked open and vented some of its contents. Before he knew it, her digitized, yet alluring voice echoed through his mind. His imagination filled with her sparkling eyes and sincere smile. Tails sighed in comfort as images of the lynx flooded his mind like the shower flooding his fur. The vulpine had no idea what attracted him to her. Maybe it was her intellect? After all, Tails' raw IQ was unmatched within the confines of the city. Having a peer to relate to surely played a part in his attraction. But then again, the way she spoke, the way she looked… Even though he knew these were merely simulations, he still couldn't help but think of how… beautifully they worked together.

Tails stopped and froze stiff. What was he doing?

"Stupid!" He scolded himself, smacking his forehead with his palm. "She's a computer! Nothing more! So why can't you just accept that? All the IQ in the world and you still can't come to terms with a machine being a machine!" Tails finished in frustration.

It didn't take but a few seconds more for Tails to realize the weight of what he'd said. His head sank, as-if being pulled down by tremendous guilt. He knew better than to think of Nicole in that way! Tails and his friends would likely be dead without her, or at the very least, lacking such a beautiful and well-fortified home, not even mentioning the invaluable friend and ally that managed it. He'd caught himself, but he knew an angry outburst was no excuse.

In barely over a decade, Nicole had become a fully sentient, free thinking, living A.I. With her own feelings and ambitions nonetheless! After everything she'd done for everyone, it was just plain wrong and disrespectful to think of her as a simple computer!

Concluding his self-scolding, one question rose to the surface, demanding an answer.

Was there anything truly wrong with these feelings?

It was a question that not even a genius such as Tails could come up with a definitive answer for. Despite his doubts, the holo-lynx's ability to grow, learn, and sometimes even feel, gave the lovestruck fox a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe… Nicole could learn to feel like he could. Learn to love…

"What do I do?" The adult fox asked himself, looking up as-if hoping for some sort of answer from the heavens. Of course, none came. He needed to figure this out for himself.

With another sigh, Tails, now at least a bit more relaxed, made a few taps on a panel located on the wall, prompting the water to cease. He allowed himself to stand there dripping for a moment before stepping out and grabbing a towel. As he dried off, he came to a decision. "I need a second opinion, an informed one." He concluded, the towel now gliding over his tails. "I'll ask Rotor about it tomorrow…" He finished his thought, hanging his towel back up and grabbing his toothbrush from its wall mount. "But, in the meantime…" A lethargic yawn escaped Tails' lips. "I'm gonna get some sleep…"

A few minutes later, Tails strode into his bedroom with a clean mouth, and in a pair of blue pajama pants. With a drowsy smile, Tails looked around at his tidy room. As usual, trinkets and techno-gadgets sat atop his windowsill, nightstand, and dresser. His modest, twin-sized bed - he'd never bothered to upsize from when he was younger - sat in the corner across from his closet and laundry basket. Tails walked over and deposited his dirty laundry before collapsing onto his bed, bouncing slightly upward from the impact before settling back into the comforting mattress.

"Alright, schedule for tomorrow…" Tails began to himself as he looked over to view his homemade alarm clock. "One a.m., I've got about six hours to sleep before getting up at seven for my game session with Nicole. Then, at nine, I've got that meeting with Rotor and our new potential employee…" Tails thought back to the cherry red wolf he'd been introduced to the week prior. A young man with promising programming skills. Tomorrow, Tails and his co-chief of city management planned to meet with the aspiring worker to evaluate whether he'd be a good fit or not. Tails figured the meeting wouldn't take more than a half hour, giving him an hour and a half of down time before him and Rotor started their shift at 11. It was as good a time as any to go out for coffee or brunch with the walrus to discuss his… personal dilemma. From then-on, it was smooth sailing. His typical 11 to 9 shift - though he'd probably end up staying later as usual - with a few breaks in-between.

Satisfied with his internalized schedule, Tails turned over to his side and grabbed his pillow. "Prower residence, turn off all lights and set wake-up time for seven." His self-automated house acknowledged the drowsily-administered command, blackening the bedroom and confirming his 7 o'clock wake-up time with a computerized voice not dissimilar from Nicole's, but lacking the emotion the lynx's could sometimes possess. Whether it was the eleven hour shift, the coffee crash finally hitting him, something else entirely, or all of the above. Tails found himself dozing off rather quickly in-spite of the thoughts of Nicole and his plans tomorrow dancing around his head. In mere minutes, the vulpine was soundly asleep.

Nothing but the hum of electronics accompanied by the shuffling of papers filled the now-darked Science Center's main computer room. The faint light of several computer monitors shone on Nicole's mostly-expressionless face as she organized the papers scattered across her fox friend's workspace into a neat pile.

She continued to work in silence until her hand grasped her comrade's yellow mug of now-room-temperature coffee. She paused. Even with thirty three percent of her processing power dedicated to continuing the hunt for remnants of the Black Tempest, on top of the standard thirty three percent needed to run the city, and the ten percent needed to sustain her holographic form, that still left the artificial lynx with plenty of thinking space for herself. As she lifted the mug and started towards the small break room, Nicole, as she had now done many times before, began to scour her hard drives, noticing the changes in Tails' behavior trends. Where he was previously outgoing and friendly to her during their exchanges, he'd grown more... reserved. This especially showed during their collaborative projects and game sessions, when they were, for the most part, alone. Even with all of her access to vocabulary and documented studies on Mobian behavior, Nicole couldn't quite grasp nor define what this change was, let alone why it was occuring. It was like her companion was constantly in a… distracted state.

—-

The break room door slid closed behind the holographic lynx. Scanning the room momentarily, she observed the fridge in the corner, right next to a counter that housed a built-in sink and a few bars above it for hanging towels. In the center of the room lied a circular table with several chairs neatly pulled up to it. The only other furniture was a red couch against the yellow wall opposite of the sink.

Nicole identified her destination and strode up to it with the used cup still in-hand. Following a twist of the handle, warm water poured from the break room sink into the coffee mug. As Nicole cleaned it out, her digital mind finally stopped on one memory file in-particular. Its date was less than a week old. Nicole more-or-less put her holographic form on autopilot and retreated into her mind to revisit the memory. Her body materialized in the digital world. Glowing green geometric shapes spanned out across the digital plane, and surrounding Nicole was her personal workspace. A virtual hub of sorts that she visited to work uninterrupted. Several floating screens of the same jade color, all presenting her with basic information on her current state. Core temperature, processing allocation, storage space, network and RAM usage, to name a few. However, what Nicole was here for was right in front of her. Striding forward to a computer terminal, Nicole punched in a few commands into the digitized keyboard and the aforementioned memory file popped up on the screen:

[Play memory file?]

[Y/N]

Nicole pressed the appropriate key and the screen responded accordingly, loading up the first frame of the video from the perspective of Nicole's past self.

[Beginning Memory File Playback]

[Entry #592,567]

[Date: 3244/089]

[Folder: Miles Tails Prower]

[Subject: Recreation]

"Pawn to A-Four." Nicole's computerized voice called out across from her opponent. The virtual chessboard acknowledged the commands a Mobian-sized white chess pawn sliding into its appropriate coordinate. "Your move, Tails." A few moments passed, the fox across from her gave no response to her remark. He instead sat there silently, his hands dangling at his side, seemingly locked in some sort of trance.

This body language was very unlike Tails during his strategization, which often involved his hand grasping his chin, along with a contemplative expression. Instead, Tails' eyes seemed to be tracing up a region below Nicole's eyeline, but above her feet. His face carried a blank expression not unlike Nicole's default one. "Fascinating…" She muttered to herself. The video continued.

"Mr. Prower, are you feeling alright?" Nicole's past-self asked her opponent.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Just thinking about my next move." Tails replied as his eyes shot away from their previous position and began to scan the chess board. Shortly after, the matured fox was seemingly ready to make his move. "Knight to D-five."

Nicole raised her eyebrow, donning the same confused expression that she did at the time of the recording. Such a move was objectively inferior to other moves that even an intermediate player could identify. Very peculiar indeed. Not to mention the way the young fox seemed to jump in surprise when Nicole addressed him a second time. Such a loss of focus had been previously uncharacteristic of the genius fox, but the trends shown in this memory entry were slowly becoming more and more pronounced. Nicole once again pondered the reason for such a change, and she made sure to take note on similar behaviors in the fox tomorrow for further analysis.

"Tails, is something bothering you?" Past-Nicole inquered. "You seemed distracted, and following the break in said distraction, you made quite a… peculiar move."

"What do you mean? I'm fine." Tails insisted, his eyes beginning to scan the chess board. "And what do you mean by my move bein-" Tails paused. Nicole watched as his palm flew to his face in annoyance. "What in the world? That was so stupid of me!" He grumbled with a raised voice.

"Though stupid is quite a harsh word, it is indeed true that your move was a mistake. Judging on your agitated reaction, I trust you now see that in eleven moves, you will be put into a checkmate and lose the match?" Nicole replied.

"Yeah, I get it now." Tails replies as Nicole's vision remained centered on him. "Sorry, I've just been…" He trailed off.

"Tails, if you wish to, as you may put it, get something off your chest, feel free to do so. Your secret will be safe with me." Nicole's past-self assured. "As you are well aware, I do not go back on my word, and my security protocols will keep any sensitive information you may have under lock and key."

"Yeah I know, Nicole. It's just…" Tails began, but once again, stopped short.

Nicole this time took note of Tails' indecisiveness. This was a trait that, if anyone lacked, he did. Tails was always quick about making a rational decision and sticking to it. Another very out-of-character behavior in the mature fox.

"I'd just rather not."

Past-Nicole once again grew curious. "Have I done something to harm my credibility?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that, I swear!" Tails insisted. "I'm just… not ready to talk about it with anyone yet."

"I see." Nicole replied plainly. "Well, then. Perhaps continuing our match will help you get your mind off it?"

"Yeah, maybe." Tails replied. "Do you mind if… maybe I mulligan my last move?" He asked sheepishly.

"Mulligan?" Nicole paused, doing a quick definition search. "Ah, yes, a term used in a game of golf that implies a do-over. Yes, you may 'mulligan' your last move."

"Thanks, Nicole. I'm sorry I got distracted." Tails replied.

"It's not an issue, mistakes occur, even in beings such as myself." Past-Nicole replied assuredly.

Nicole already remembered what happened next. Directly following Tails' next move, Eggman's Black Tempest virus began its perversion into her systems, cutting their game and, subsequently, their conversation, short. Having seen enough, and not wanting to relive the painful memory of her systems being carved into, Nicole decided to close the memory, tapping a few keys on the terminal to cease playback. "This warrants further study." She stated conclusively.

In a flash of bright green triggered by a mere thought, the digital world unloaded and full consciousness returned to Nicole's avatar in reality. The drying mug now rested on a towel atop the granite counter beside the sink.

"Tomorrow, I will once again document Tails' strange behavior, and if the opportunity presents itself, I will inquiry as to why the change is taking place." Nicole concluded to herself, momentarily forgetting that she was no longer in the digital world.

Satisfied with her plan, Nicole turned to leave the break room to finish preparing the workspace for tomorrow.


End file.
